SoFi has begun to acquire state life insurance licenses and is working with Protective Life Insurance Co. on a life insurance partnership; known for student loan refinancing, life insurance would add to the company's expanding product offerings which now include mortgage loans, personal loans and wealth management. Source
ProducePay was previously a LendIt PitchIt finalist; the company provides an online financing platform for farmers of perishable goods; they recently announced a $77 million debt and equity funding round that will help it expand its business financing. Source
Clarity Services is one of the US market's alternative credit data providers; in their featured blog post they provide a white paper detailing the benefits of using alternative credit data from Clarity Services for direct mail screening and marketing campaigns; by using an expanded set of data, the company suggests lenders can reach more creditworthy consumers. Sponsored Blog Post
Emerging online lending platforms from traditional banks could be the market's disruptors with their ability to offer low fees; few banks have emerged with proprietary online lending platforms however the fee structures offered by Marcus from Goldman Sachs have caused some industry participants to fear the emergence of similar models; other speculators believe traditional banks are not agile enough to build and offer market leading online lending capabilities in a competitive timeframe; Orchard says competition will be fierce but the end result is likely to produce improved and expanded access to capital for customers. Source
Creditas is an online secured loan provider in Brazil; the company has announced the release of its 2017 Brazil Lending Market Report which provides an overview of the country's trends in consumer lending; also reports on market metrics including interest rate spreads and outstanding debt by lending categories. Source
Leading Canadian point-of-sale (POS) platform Flexiti Financial raised an oversubscribed CAD$6.25 million (USD$5 million) convertible debt offering; they will use the capital to accelerate growth and improve technology; according to Flexiti Financial Founder and CEO Peter Kalen: "Retailers across Canada are looking for unique solutions to increase sales and maintain customer loyalty in a highly competitive and shifting market. Flexiti Financial's POS lending platform has become an important tool in their sales arsenal, and this investment will help us better serve our retail partners while managing our growth across Canada." Source
The new agreement with PICC P&C would provide Yirendai with a performance bond for certain loans originated through their marketplace; PICC P&C agreed to reimburse investors should any losses occur because of due diligence issues; Yihan Fang, CEO of Yirendai, said, "We are pleased to begin working with PICC P&C on performance bond. We believe a strong alliance between our two industry-leading companies will enable us to provide higher quality products and services to our customers to better serve the large demand for personal finance." Source
A federal district court in the Southern District of New York has ordered the Bethune v. Lending Club Corporation, et al. case to proceed to arbitration; plaintiffs argue that Lending Club loans were in violation of state usury laws despite their association with WebBank; while the case is still pending, the court has said it will be decided through arbitration due to clauses in place by Lending Club. Source
DealStruck, an online lender for small and medium-sized businesses, has stopped originating loans; the industry environment and slowdown in investor capital has affected the company; the firm's CEO Ethan Senturia said, "Although we are not currently originating new loans, we are continuing to provide our clients with the high-level of service they have come to expect from us."; he also noted, "we’ll be looking for strategic options to allow us to continue delivering on our mission to provide unique, appropriate and affordable financing to small businesses nationwide." Source
The Financial Conduct Authority released its interim update on crowdfunding rules last week; the update reported that the regulator would be scrutinizing numerous factors pertaining to P2P lending in the UK; one such factor, discussed by the Financial Times, includes the disclosure of loan performance; the introduction of provision funds has caused this disclosure to potentially be misleading for investors; in some cases platforms use provision funds to cover defaults for borrowers; this action could potentially lead to better than actual loan performance on the loans. Source